Licences required

If your drone is over 2kg or you wish to operate outside the standard operating conditions, you must be a certified operator, or fly with a certified operator, to fly commercially.

To become a certified operator you will need to hold an individual remote pilot's licence (RePL) and a remotely piloted aircraft operators certificate (ReOC). Anyone who works for you and flies a drone will also need to hold their own RePL.

Safety and privacy laws

Safety rules apply to drone use to protect other people in the air and on the ground. Restrictions also apply for privacy reasons.

For some operations you will need permission from CASA and, depending on where you intend to fly, you may need to provide a safety case and risk assessment.

As well as complying with CASA requirements, you should check whether local councils in the area you intend to fly have introduced their own by-laws relating to drone use.